


One Illegible Letter

by KrysKrossZee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, First Dates, Fluff, Letters, Love Confessions, Love Letters, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29353725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrysKrossZee/pseuds/KrysKrossZee
Summary: Percy receives a tear-stained letter, but it's contents make very little sense to him, except for three words.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Percy Weasley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11
Collections: With Love Weasley





	One Illegible Letter

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [With_Love_Weasley](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/With_Love_Weasley) collection. 



> Prompt used-
> 
> The letter was mostly illegible due to numerous splotches and smears, as if the writer had been crying profusely as they penned it. However, [Character] was able to make out the last part. "I love you," it said.

The letter was mostly illegible due to numerous splotches and smears as if the writer had been crying profusely as they penned it. However, Percy was able to make out the last part. 'I love you.' His hands were shaking violently as he held the letter in his hands. He knew the writing like he knew the back of his hand, but he couldn't quite seem to get himself to believe that the man that he had once been desperate to even notice him had written a love letter to him.

It didn't make sense, not when the last thing that Draco Malfoy had said to him was to 'have a nice life'. Percy hadn't known what that meant, especially when it wasn't said in a mean way, the way that Percy had become accustomed to hearing the blond talk to everyone. Draco liked to keep everyone at a distance, which Percy knew made sense considering everything that he had been through, but Percy knew what it was like to be judged and he had made a conscious effort to try to break through the front that Draco had built up.

They had been brought together when worked when they had both been forced into the same office by Kingsley who had wanted to be seen as letting Slyherins and ex-ministry workers redeem themself but it had been made apparent that he didn't actually trust any of them. Percy didn't understand the logic of putting them all together in the same room, but then he wasn't exactly in a position to question it. Besides, it had been interesting - if a little awkward at first - to be able to get to know the people that he had mainly avoided for most of his school career.

Percy had become fast friends with Pansy who it had turned out that he had a lot in common with and this had enabled him to see a brand new side of Draco, one that he never even imagined that the man had. It hadn't taken long before Percy realised that he had feelings for the Slytherin, though he had never once acted on these feelings. Pansy was aware of them, but Percy had sworn her to secrecy, something which she had relished in much to his chagrin.

Percy had told her that he would eventually work up the courage to talk to Draco, but before he had had the chance to, Draco had announced that he was leaving the Ministry, that he had a job as a reporter lined up and then he had just left. Percy hadn't heard from Draco at all until now.

This letter didn't make sense to him at all. He could only read a few of the words, but that wasn't what confused him. What confused him was that Draco had never once indicated that he even thought about Percy, let alone _loved_ him. He wondered for a moment if he was meant to be the recipient and the only reason that he didn't spend any more time obsessing over the possibility that Draco's owl had come knocking on the wrong window was that his name was the only other thing, other than those three little words, that was clear.

He set the letter down on his desk and sat down on the edge of his bed where he rested his head in his hands and made himself take several deep breaths. This letter was everything that he ever wanted, and yet it felt wrong for reasons that he couldn't quite seem to put his finger on. Maybe because it was in a letter and not face to face? He didn't know anything except that it felt as if a snake was wrapped around his chest and was squeezing the air out of his lungs.

Percy was glad of the knock on his bedroom door which pulled him back to reality and in all honesty managed to stop him from having a full-blown panic attack. He turned his head towards his door to see Charlie stood there, leaning against the doorframe.

"You alright there, Perce?" He asked, frowning slightly as he quite clearly looked him up and down.

Percy didn't know whether he felt better or worse to know that he had been out on the spot like that, but he did manage to give a shake of his head. There was no point lying to Charlie. Charlie was probably the only sibling that he had ever been able to have a proper conversation with about his sexual identity, mainly because Charlie was queer himself. 

"Want to talk about it or do you want to come to watch me and George try to degnome the garden?"

Percy appreciated the fact that Charlie knew that he wouldn't actually help to degnome but he did find it somewhat entertaining to watch from time to time. Today was not one of those days, however; today he just wanted to make sense of the letter. Today he just wanted to understand why he felt so awkward that Draco had just told him exactly what he had wanted to hear all this time.

"I… No judgements, okay?" He said quietly as he got up from the bed and picked up the letter which he passed to Charlie without any further explanation. He didn't think that he could have explained it if he had tried anyway.

"When do I ever judge?" Charlie asked as he took the parchment from Percy who was glad to see him handle it with such care. He had only had the letter in his possession for a short period, but he was pretty sure that it was now one of the most valuable things that he owned.

Percy watched and tried not to pace as Charlie read the letter. The older man was frowning a little and Percy hoped that it was because he was just as confused as he was, not because he didn't approve of the way that Draco had confessed. Percy sat back down on the edge of the bed and forced himself to take a few more deep breaths.

"Draco. As in Malfoy?" Charlie asked as he sat down on the bed next to Percy and knocked his shoulder with his own.

Percy gave the smallest of nods. "Yeah." He managed to whisper before he took the letter back from Charlie and turned on the bed to face him. "Draco Malfoy." He glanced down for a moment before he met Charlie's gaze again. "I… I never told him how I felt when we worked together and yet this still arrived today."

"So you…" Charlie gestured vaguely. Percy knew that Charlie wasn't going to pretend to begin to understand matters of the heart but he appreciated that he wanted to let Percy talk this out.

"Yeah, I like him. Maybe even love him, but I've not had the chance to explore that as he - um - well he left." Percy explained and as he did so he realised that that was the problem, that that was why he was feeling weird about it. Draco had told him he loved him while Percy had only just allowed himself to entertain the thought that he had feelings for the man so far. He swallowed thickly and clasped his hands together in his lap tightly. "I need to write back to him. Sorry, Charlie. I'll catch up with you later." He didn't want to kick his brother out, but some things were just more important. Charlie seemed to understand this anyway as he stood up and clapped Percy on the shoulder before he headed out.

Percy moved to his desk and forced himself to take a breath before he grabbed a piece of parchment, taking some sort of pleasure in the fact that it had his name spelt out clear as day at the top. Draco wouldn't have any doubts about who the letter was from, at least, and he was going to do his best to make sure that his writing was a little bit more legible than Draco's had been.

**

Percy felt sick but he knew that it was mainly because he was excited. Draco had agreed to meet with him to explain what he had said in his letter. Percy had tried reading it again several times since he had received it last night, hoping that maybe he might see something that he had missed previously, but that didn't appear to be the case. He had tried to make sense of Draco's words, but that had just meant that he had obsessed over the letter itself since he had received it and as a result, he had gotten very little sleep.

They had chosen a mutual spot to meet, one that Percy had never been to before and he was pretty sure that no-one that would recognise them would see them. It was a Muggle spot, and therefore the least likely place that anyone would have expected to find Draco in the first place, and if Percy was honest he knew that it was fairly unlikely that he would be spotted there either. This was meant to help them both with their anxiety, especially when he took into account how big a step this way, but that in itself was the very reason that Percy was unable to keep his anxiety in check.

Percy had almost convinced himself that it was time that he left, that Draco was playing some elaborate prank on him and he should just up and leave to save himself any humiliation, but then he saw the flash of blond hair walking towards him along the path and he managed to calm himself down enough so that he would stop thinking about how much he wanted to run away.

"I didn't think that you would actually show up." Draco's voice was small, nervous, which wasn't at all how Percy was used to hearing him talk. He was used to the ex-Slytherin being confident, almost commanding.

"How could I stay away?" Percy asked, his hand in his pocket and his fingers closing around the letter. He had read the words 'I love you' over and over while he had been awake overnight and even though he wasn't at all convinced that Draco meant those words when he didn't even understand how Draco could feel that way about him when they didn't know each other _yet._ He needed answers anyway and there was only one way that he could get those and that was by talking to Draco about it. "You told me that you loved me."

Draco gave a small nod and visibly swallowed thickly. "Yes. I. I know that's rather forward of me, especially considering the history between our families and the fact that we don't actually know each other all that well. But I'm not going to ignore the way that I feel for a minute longer. I ignored my emotions all through school and only ever did what my family had drummed into me was _right_ and that didn't get me anywhere. So here I am, telling you how I feel, and hoping that you might feel the same way."

Percy pulled in a slow breath and managed to get himself to line his words up so that they would make sense and not at all sound hurtful. "I have feelings for you, Draco. There's no denying that. I don't know if I love you, yet. But I think if. I think if we were to spend some time together, to date then the feelings that I have for you might just evolve into something more."

Fortunately, this appeared to be good news to Draco as he was smiling at Percy and slowly he reached for Percy's hand, who didn't pull away. He found that he _wanted_ to hold Draco's hand as well.

"Dating makes a lot more sense than just jumping straight in with both feet," Draco said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "And I don't want to pressure you either. I just want to make sure that you know how I feel about you. I should have told you how I felt about you when we worked together, but I also don't think that it would have been appropriate to do that…" He trailed off, squeezing Percy's hand before he pulled his hand back again. "So when can I take you out?"

Percy blinked a couple of times as he tried to make sense of what was happening, even though this was exactly what he wanted to happen, it still seemed to be very far-fetched. He wasn't ready for Draco to leave him just yet either which was why he ended up saying "why don't we go for coffee now?"

Draco's smile stretched a little further, even though Percy hadn't thought that was possible until he saw it. "I was sort of hoping that you would say that."

Percy could feel the tingling in his toes that told him that even though this was all so confusing for him. He wasn't quite sure what the feeling meant, but it was new and interesting, and he wasn't at all unhappy with how it made him feel.

**

It wasn't often that Percy wore dress robes; in fact, he couldn't remember the last time that he had worn these particular dress robes, but his first proper date with Draco had seemed like a good occasion to pull them out of his wardrobe. Sneaking out of the house without being noticed by any of his siblings had been a completely different experience. It wasn't that he was ashamed of who he was currently dating, it was that he wasn't at all ready to have anyone question who he was seeing. This was also why Charlie was perhaps his favourite sibling - he had yet to ask any questions about what had happened after the letter he had received whereas he knew that all his other siblings wouldn't even let him sleep until they had all of the answers.

Percy found himself wishing that Charlie would have asked about the letter as he left to go on the date that he was pretty was going to change his life. As much as he didn't want to answer questions about his fate, he still wanted to be able to talk to someone about it. He knew that was the case as he walked down the path away from the Burrow and to the place where he liked to apparate from. He was a creature of habit, after all, and he needed the comfort of being able to apparate from the same place that he always did.

The restaurant that Draco had chosen was almost exactly the sort of place that Percy had expected the _old_ Draco to go to. It was probably the fanciest place that Percy had been inside, he decided as he made his way inside and saw that everyone inside was wearing either dress robes or a muggle suit, so he found that he was glad that he was dressed for the occasion, even if it did mean that a knot formed on the pit of his stomach that was making him question if this was even a good idea. It was starting to make him wonder if they were from two completely different worlds and whether this would actually work.

Those doubts all but melted away when he caught sight of Draco sitting at one of the tables and smiling in that way that he often did when he didn't know that anyone was watching. Percy let himself watch the man for a few minutes before he made his way into the restaurant, a smile on his lips as he took a seat opposite the blond.

"Perce." Draco's smile stretched as he reached across the table to take Percy's hand. Percy was only too happy to oblige and his fingers curled around Draco's without a second thought. "I didn't think that you'd actually come."

Percy gave a light chuckle. "I didn't think you'd be here." He admitted as he gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I was pretty sure I was going to be eating alone."

"You're dressed awfully nice for a meal alone," Draco commented before he handed Percy one of the menus.

"Well, maybe I was dressing up for someone other than you? Just because I was going to come here alone, doesn't mean that I would have to leave alone." He teased, flashing Draco a smile as he took the menu and slowly went through it to see what he wanted, even though he was pretty sure that he was far too nervous - in a good way - to be able to eat.

"Very funny." Draco deadpanned, though he did return the smile which seemed to be enough to settle the butterflies that had been running rampant in the pit of Percy's stomach, while simultaneously making him feel even giddier at the same time.

**

Percy didn't want to blow his own trumpet but he was pretty sure that the date had been a success and from the smile that had been fixed on Draco's face from the onset, one that Percy hadn't seen on his lips before that night. Percy had to say that it was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen, and that was including his niece who he absolutely adored.

They both did their very best to make their meal last as long as possible, or at least that was the impression that Percy got when Draco kept ordering desserts and coffee; he didn't think that the blond was a glutton after all, though he supposed that he didn't actually know the man very well yet. But that was what this evening had been all about, getting to know each other outside of a work environment.

And Percy had to admit that he had enjoyed getting to know this person, he wasn't at all the person that he had done his best to avoid during their school years. That person had been arrogant and self-centred and had driven Percy to near insanity with his rule-breaking - something that Draco had now sworn he only partook in because he was trying to keep tabs on Harry which Percy could only understand. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were a prefect's nightmare, after all.

This version of Draco had done a lot to fix his image or at least attempt to. After leaving his job at the Ministry, he had gone travelling with Luna Lovegood. In Percy's opinion that one was a more unlikely friendship than his own with either Draco or Pansy, but Draco had gone on to explain that Luna had taken him under her wing so that she could teach him everything she knew about rare creatures. It turned out that Draco had a passion for animals; he had been quick to remind Draco of the incident with Buckbeak that had put a completely different impression in the minds of almost everyone who had attended Hogwarts that year.

Apparently, it was this incident that had given Draco brand new respect for animals in general and while he hadn't been able to explore the subject in school for various reasons, he had been able to do his own research in his own time. When the opportunity to write for the Quibbler had arisen, it had been far too good to turn down. That was something else that Percy had found out about Draco - that he was a writer.

Percy had to admit that he had never once picked up a copy of the Quibbler, purely because of the reputation that it held, but he knew all too well that reputations could be misleading and he knew now that he should at least give the publication a chance, especially if it meant that he would get the chance to read Draco's writing.

After their dinner the two men decided wordlessly that they weren't ready to part ways and without consulting the other they ended up walking through a nearby park, falling into step beside each other and their fingers lacing together as they walked. There was something special about walking through a park after dark, something _romantic_ , not that Percy had that much experience with romance in the first place, but he had snuck a copy of Ginny's romance novels from time to time (mainly when he had run out of reading material of his own) and he was under the impression that parks bathed in moonlight often lead to at least a second date, if not something more.

"So.." Percy hummed, breaking the soft silence that had fallen between them. "Thank you for tonight."

This, for some reason, caused Draco to stop suddenly in his tracks, pulling Percy to a stop beside him. Percy turned to face him, his eyes studying the other man's features for a moment as he tried to figure out whether he had done something wrong or said the wrong thing but Draco gave nothing away. At least he didn't let go of Percy's hand which at least made him feel a little better about all of this.

"Is everything okay…?" He asked slowly when Draco said nothing and continued to stand there, practically staring at him.

"They. Everything is a little confusing." He heard Draco admit, which only confused Percy all the more, but then he supposed that that was the point that Draco was trying to make.

"What do you mean?" Percy wasn't sure if he was going to regret asking this question or not, but he needed to understand what Draco was confused about so that he could help to make sense of it all.

"I tell you I love you, you tell me you have feelings for me, and then you thank me for a pleasant evening like we're a couple of strangers."

Percy blinked rapidly as he realised that he had in fact managed to insult Draco, which wasn't at all his intention and he didn't want to end their date on this note either. "I...I'm sorry." He said softly.rry." He managed to stutter out. "I just meant that I've had a nice time."

"A better way to do that is to ask me out on a second date." Draco pointed out, a smile back on his lips as he met Percy's gaze again and Percy managed to relax a little. "A better way to do that is to kiss me."

Percy's breath hitched at that suggestion. He hadn't at all expected that one, though he supposed that it was the logical conclusion to a successful date. "I - I can do that?" He found himself asking. He had wanted to kiss Draco since he had first walked into the restaurant, he just didn't know if that was something that he was allowed to do.

"Of course you can do that!" Draco's voice was slightly high-pitched as if he was surprised that Percy even needed to ask. "When I say I love you, I don't mean like a brother, Perce. I mean that I want you to be my boyfriend and I don't know about you but where I come from that means that we can kiss each other."

Percy swallowed thickly; he didn't think that he was going to be able to kiss Draco there and then, not now that there seemed to be an expectation that he kissed him - it wasn't as if Percy had experience in kissing other men after all. He knew that he was now starting to overthink it all and that was not at all a good headspace to be, but he also knew that he couldn't end this date without kissing Draco now either.

"So where would you like to go on our second date?" He decided to ask in the hopes that it would deflect from his obvious awkwardness and that he would eventually start to feel comfortable again so that he could manage to salvage this date before it went from great to shit in one fell swoop.

"I think you should surprise me, don't you think?" Draco was smirking now in a way that made the butterflies in Percy's stomach return and the only way that he could answer that was to lace his fingers into Draco's. They started walking again, and while Percy found that he had practically been stunned into silence, Draco at least seemed to be having the opposite problem.

**

Draco had insisted on apparating to the Burrow with Percy, making it clear that he wanted to be sure that the redhead got home safely, which he felt was strange considering that he was able to apparate basically onto his doorstep. As it was he had made sure that they were right on the Burrow porch so that the date wouldn't end with Draco getting the throw degree from his mother or Ginny - who was sure to have a field day that her brother had ended up with someone that her own boyfriend had warred with for practically his whole school career, not to mention the fact that he didn't want to risk the chance of Ron catching sight of him. Ron was, unfortunately, the sort of person to hold a grudge.

It was better this way, to put some distance between the man that he really liked and his family who could make the man's life a misery without even trying, though he knew that further down the line he would have to tell his family about their relationship. He wasn't ready to face the music after just one date though, and he was sure that Draco understood that at least on some level.

None of that stopped Percy from taking both of Draco's hands into his own and giving them a small squeeze. He didn't say anything for a moment - and found himself hoping that Draco wouldn't say anything either while he tried to build up the courage to end the date in the way that Draco deserved. He was still feeling pretty awkward, but he was pushing past that because his want to kiss the man had returned tenfold.

He took a breath before deciding just to go for it. He leaned in and gently pressed a kiss to Draco's lips, smiling against them as Draco wrapped his arms around Percy in return and kissed him back. Percy had only ever kissed one person before and kissing Draco was definitely not at all like kissing Penelope. Even though he had to make the conscious decision to kiss Draco, he hadn't needed to force it as soon as their lips had touched. He hadn't even needed to think about it as he cupped Draco's cheeks in the palms of his hands.

When they eventually parted, Percy let his eyes linger on Draco's face for a moment before he pulled one of his hands away, a smile flickering across his face as it sunk in what he had just done. He was sure that the rest of the evening was going to take a bit more time to process, especially as it had been something that he had wanted for a while.

"Now that's so much better than thanking me, don't you think?" Draco hummed, turning his head slightly to press a kiss to the palm of Percy's hand. "I'll see you on Saturday, yeah?" He asked as he laced their fingers back together again.

Percy could feel a blush creeping up over his neck and cheeks but he managed a nod before he had time to overthink it. "Yes, Saturday. And I'll make sure it's a good surprise." He promised before he snuck another quick kiss, having already decide that he wanted as many of those as he could possibly get.

"I'll see you then." Draco flashed him a grin before he moved away from Percy and just simply apparated away, leaving Percy to wonder if the whole evening had simply been a really lovely dream.


End file.
